It's All In The Title
by Everlane
Summary: Her girlfriend always had this hard look whenever she was pissed at something, or wanted to get a rise out of people. She would wait until someone struck a nerve, before she lashes out. Pezberry. Slight AU.


_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee._

…

**It's All In The Title**

_The world is broken _

_Halos fail to glisten_

_You try to make a difference_

_But no one wants to listen_

She never had to run so fast before in her life, but in the end, she would rather do that than watch the chaos that ensued in the gym locker room just a while ago. Rachel Berry was quick to her feet, and she had a knack for sensing things before they happened with just the look in people's eyes.

Her girlfriend always had this hard look whenever she was pissed at something, or wanted to get a rise out of people. She would wait until someone struck a nerve, before she lashes out. Rachel sighed. This was the worst year she had ever experienced in school, but she would rather go through that than not be with her.

"Raise your head for me..."

She sniffed, her own face flushed a tinging red while streaked with dried tears. The girl sitting down on the chair by one of the school library's tables in the study area did as Rachel ordered, her left eye bruised a darkening blue and purple.

Their friends were here when the fight happened right near Rachel's locker, and helped as much as they could when some of the glee jocks tore down Azimio's groupies an hour ago.

The diva had been getting prepared to leave school after a short meeting with Mr. Schuester. Sectionals was hosted in their school auditorium with Vocal Adrenaline and the Unitards as competitors, and she was filled with a giddiness that matched the one she usually feels when she thrived in victory. New Directions had won first place, after they were almost were defeated when the Unitards really stepped up to their game.

She was still dressed in the black cocktail dress she wore for their performance, and with vivid reminiscence, she had left the choir room after granting her coach a good night. Santana was waiting for her in the parking lot, as she said through a text only a couple of minutes earlier. The school was eerily quiet, for most of the students had already left the building hours ago when school ended.

Rachel had been walking down the hallway towards her locker when she almost froze at the sight of Azimio and three other jocks who leaned against her locker, while they watched her with keen interest.

"I screwed up real bad, huh?" Santana asked, her voice hoarse and faint due to an intense session of shouting at one of Azimio's cronies. "What're your dads gonna think of me now that they know I'm suspended for the next week?"

Rachel adjusted the strap of her dress, which was torn from it's seam and barely hanging on her shoulder. She leaned back down to pat her girlfriend's busted lip, fighting down the urge to release tears when she watched how badly beaten Santana was both physically and mentally. When she tossed a crumpled and bloodied sheet of tissue in the wastebasket nearby, she grabbed a cotton swab by her first aid kit on the table before she dabbed it in rubbing alcohol.

"You never screwed up, only those poor excuses for young gentlemen did." Rachel kissed Santana's forehead, before she stroked her tousled up hair with a free hand. "And my dads will be proud of you."

Santana scoffed gently. "You okay?" She flinched a little as Rachel pressed her lower lip with the wet cotton swab.

"Not so good."

If there was anything she had learned during these two years with Santana, it's that the former cheerio never tolerated anyone having secrets or hiding feelings. Come out with it, or else she would force it out of you. Rachel in the beginning thought that she was a little too overbearing to do that, but as of now, she found out that it was the best rule of their relationship and it instituted an undying trust within their relationship now and even forever.

For a girl who was practically almost raped by one of her attackers, she could say that she was perfectly fine and dandy. But that was a flat out lie. She was frightened now, frightened about going to school the next morning to see that same boy named Elroy Mackinson. He was the same height as Finn, except that he was brawnier and intimidating with his dark blue eyes.

When Azimio began to protest the minute Elroy shoved Rachel against her own locker, the diva was beyond terrified but never failed to show the taller boy that she wasn't going to back down. He said things to her, things like how he thought she was a pack of shit for having faggot dads and being a dyke. There was more, and they were so graphic that the leader of the pack noticed that something was off about Elroy Johnston.

She guessed that some of the jocks, including Azimio were too shocked to even stop Elroy. So they began to ran, leaving Rachel with Elroy and another jock who was almost the same height as he.

She thought that this was going to be her last moment on this earth. Truly she did, and she found herself ridden with images of her and her fathers as well as Santana. Images of her closest friends and their times together. The diva lost it and began to plead for her life, sobbing when she was dragged into the smallest corners of the boy's gym locker room.

The sounds of fabric ripping and a faint ringing in her head as her head was slammed against one of the lockers stunned her, making her defenses shut down.

She really thought she was going to die.

"Stop it." The diva felt her wrists held by her girlfriend's warm hands, before the former cheerio pulled the cotton swab and tossed it in the garbage. "You did really good holding him off."

Santana stood, dressed in the hoodie over sweat pants she changed into right after Sectionals. Dark eyes were filled with empathy as they focused on Rachel, prompting her to look down on the floor and ignoring the gentle stroke of her hair.

They were supposed to leave earlier to go to Santana's currently empty house to spend some quality time together. She was most excited about it, and was so eager to complete all small tasks before she met Santana in the parking lot. Then she was stupid enough to stay long, and that dog had his hands up...

"I really should have hurried up..." Rachel laughed bitterly before her voice broke down, but she held herself together and fell into Santana's arms. She finally let silent tears fall, and took a heaving breath. "...I really should have hurried up."

"'S not your fault." Santana murmured against her hair. "Never your fault. Those bastards didn't know how to mind their own fucking business when they needed to."

Rachel pulled back, hitting Santana's arm. "You can't do something like that again! You've already been off the Cheerios because of that and now this? Santana how are you even going to New York University?"

"Don't start pulling up shit about how irresponsible I'm being, Rachel. I get it." Santana said firmly, looking down at Rachel's teary eyes. "I'm not gonna just stand there and let these assholes do whatever they want with you."

Her voice was raising within the silent confines of the school library. "Santana calm down, this is a library."

"Calm down for what?" She was yelling now, her body shrugging Rachel off her.

"I come out as a lesbian and this school just changes in the blink of an eye. I couldn't go to junior prom with you because the faculty has a problem with that. I can't even kiss you if I want to in the hallways without everyone saying something smart about it!"

Rachel looked mournfully at Santana, who turned her back towards her. "You have to bring another set of clothes to school because you're slushied every day. I'm no longer gonna get that full scholarship I want or have a perfect school record, but I'm not gonna stand in the back while you're being bullied. Not if I can help it."

"Santana..."

The taller girl scoffed, arms wrapped around herself as she looked at a lone book in the shelf. "Azimio is not going to talk crap about my girlfriend with his weak, _pathetic_ little groupies while I'm standing here. And that includes that douche bag named Elroy Johnston."

And that was very true. Rachel could testify for that statement. Azimio and Karofsky were their primary bullies in the school, often slushing Rachel or bad mouthing she and Santana. One time they helped pull off a prank with a few cheerios, air spraying the word dyke with Rachel's name over Santana's locker. It was only a matter time before her girlfriend had been kicked off the team because she gave one cheerio a severe beating.

Minutes after Rachel was dragged inside the locker rooms, Santana had managed to drag Elroy off Rachel before he could do anything. The diva never knew where she found the strength, but the next thing she knew, Elroy was on the ground cradling his manhood while Puck and Mike attacked the other jock standing by.

Kurt was by her side asking if she was alright, but her mind reeled and it only had Santana in the back of it. Everything else when by like a blur, but she could remember the shouting and the sickening blows of punches heard in the locker room.

And here they were.

"I hate people sometimes..." Santana murmured, hugging herself a little more. Rachel's heels tapped against the floors, while she walked towards her girlfriend. "...They're like so fucked up and ignorant."

"It's all in the package of being the school's only lesbian couple." Rachel said, laughing a little. "Besides, what good are we if we don't set some example when we leave, right?"

Santana didn't say anything. Rachel's arms reached the Latina, enclosing the tense form in front of her, while she rested her head against her shoulder. Gently, she turned the taller girl around to look into her eyes with a soft smile. Her face was bruised on one side and especially around the eye, and Rachel knew that she was pissed and angry. A feeling she's familiar with since their sophomore year at William McKinley High.

She felt her phone begin to vibrate, indicating that her fathers were outside waiting for them. Santana was in no condition of driving them home, and she wasn't either, so her fathers were able to catch a ride with Puck to use Santana's car to go to her place.

"Come on, my dads are outside waiting."

Santana smiled but barely due to the cut on her lip. "I love you, you know that?"

"I know." Rachel murmured, kissing her cheek. "I always knew."

Santana watched Rachel gather their bags and supplies before she decided to take some of the weight off the petite girl. As they walked down the hallways of the high school, Rachel stopped and pulled down Santana for a soft kiss. She was careful to not hurt her girlfriend's lip, but the Latina pulled her in and dove deeper into her mouth.

No breathing ensued the both of them, for they were wrapped up in each others arms and desperate for needed support. When Rachel pulled back, she took Santana's hand in hers and pulled her gently down the halls to exit the building.

The night air and the embraces of the Berry men were a welcome feeling. And when Rachel came home with Santana, locked within her bedroom while nude under pink sheets, she returned Santana's soft murmurs of 'I love yous' in more ways than one.

…

**End Note:** My new chapter for 'A Swift Turn' is almost done, seriously. These one shots were just stored for publishing on here. Thank you so much for support me on 'A Swift Turn', and I will update very soon.

But I would really love to hear your feedback on this, let me know what you think please. Thank you, and have a happy New Year. But the way, the verse of the song above is from _A Neutron Star Collision _by Muse.

I was also very inspired by this artwork/photograph on this link (It's the third post by kitty-pimps). And I even took the two quotes from the piece so it's definitely no mine: .com/tagged/pezberry?before=1311597575


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